1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices for loading and carrying a boat or similar object on top of a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A common way to transport a small boat is by means of a trailer. This presents several disadvantages as compared to carrying a boat on the top of a motor vehicle. First, use of a trailer limits the speed and maneuverability of the motor vehicle. Second, the trailer must be purchased, stored, and maintained at considerable expense. Third, a motor vehicle cannot pull a boat trailer and a travel trailer at the same time. Hence, there is a need in the art for devices to transport boats on top of motor vehicles. Further, devices are needed for loading and carrying boats that are designed for or easily adaptable for use with pick-up trucks, a type of motor vehicle commonly used by fishermen, who also need easy means for transporting small boats, preferably with the motor attached.
There are a wide variety of prior devices for transporting boats on top of motor vehicles. Many such devices transport the boat upside down. This has the disadvantage of requiring removal of the outboard motor during transport as well as requiring additional mechanical means or assistance for turning the boat over when loading or unloading. Examples of such devices are Kruse, U.S. Pat. No. 3,495,729, Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,812, Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,540, Grove et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,689, Youngblood, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,764, Schadle, U.S. Pat. No. 4,087,014, Thede, U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,086, Stevens et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,757, and Tibbet, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,308.
Prior devices that are designed for or adaptable for use on a pick-up truck typically prevent or restrict the use of the cargo bed for other purposes, interfere with the simultaneous use of a canopy over the cargo bed, or involve complex, expensive, and heavy telescoping rails or other mechanisms or modification of the bumpers or other parts of the pick-up truck to allow attachment of the device. For example, Sutton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,788, Reed, U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,433, and Smithson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,989 each disclose boat carrying and loading devices specifically designed for pick-up trucks, but each requires permanent installation in the cargo bed of the truck, preventing the use of a canopy or the most of the space occupied by a canopy for other purposes. In effect, the pick-up truck's carrying ability is dedicated to a single purpose.
There are some prior devices that, while designed for conventional automobiles or vans, could be adapted for use on a pick-up truck, possibly allowing a canopy to be used concurrently. In each case, these devices utilize expedients such as sliding frames or telescoping rails, as well as requiring modifications to the motor vehicle to provide attachment points. Examples are Meyer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,583, Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,893, Coakley, U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,594, Martinez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,285, and Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,779.
There are also prior devices that could be used on a pick-up truck, but would not allow use of a canopy. For example, Oldham, U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,693 and Horowitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,879. Oldham uses an extending beam that would impinge on the location of a canopy on a pick-up truck. Horowitz does not use a beam or other extending member, but would not allow the use of a canopy on a pick-up truck as the boat and the framework carrying it tilt into the location a canopy would occupy.
Suitable apparatus easy to use and economical to manufacture for carrying and loading small boats upright with an outboard motor attached, that are mountable on a pick-up truck without modification to the pick up truck, that permit the bed of the truck to be used to carry other cargo, that permit a trailer to be towed, and that allow the simultaneous use of a canopy over the cargo bed of the truck, were not known prior to the present invention.